- Block A will feature 10 single-family homes and two mixed-use buildings near Russell Park.
- The first home is planned as a 2,588-square-foot, three-story residence with a rooftop deck.
- Funke Real Estate Group and the city highlight the project’s walkability and opportunities for local developers.
A Covington-based developer will build the first single-family homes at the Covington Central Riverfront site.
On Tuesday, the City of Covington and representatives from the Funke Real Estate Group broke ground on Block A of the CCR site, marking the beginning of the first homes planned for the sprawling project.
“We look forward to the first single-family home– there’s going to be 10 single-family homes and two commercial buildings here,” Covington Assistant Economic Development Director John Sadosky said. “So, so excited to get started with that.”
Block A is located at the intersection of Russell Street and Stewart Alley, near the newly constructed Russell Park promenade. The 37,600-square-foot parcel will be the site of 10 single-family homes, along with two mixed-use buildings. According to a press release from Covington, the first home planned for the site is a 2,588-square-foot, three-story residence featuring three bedrooms, three full bathrooms, and a rooftop deck.
The Covington Central Riverfront project consists of 17 blocks, each with a distinct development plan. Some blocks, such as Block A, will include single-family homes, while others will feature apartments, mixed-use developments, commercial spaces, and public areas.
The 23-block area previously housed the vacant Internal Revenue Service processing center, which was demolished in 2022 to make way for the planned development.
Jodi Funke, president of her namesake real estate group, said the opportunity to develop the site is a victory for small, locally-owned developers. Funke is a graduate of Covington-based Aviatra Accelerators, a woman-focused entrepreneurial support organization.
“The City of Covington is creating opportunities for smaller developers, opportunities that in many cities are automatically given to one large master developer; too often, smaller developers are overlooked or shut out of transformational projects like this, but Covington is proving that progress doesn’t have to come from only the biggest firms, it can come from local, committed, community-minded developers,” Funke said.
Funke Real Estate Group boasts a diverse portfolio of properties, such as Cumberland Glen at Lake Cumberland, Fossett Village in Avondale, the Elevate Cincinnati hotel downtown, and City West townhomes near TQL Stadium in Cincinnati’s West End.
Funke mentioned that one of the mixed-use spaces will host Black Coffee, a coffee shop from Cincinnati that is expanding south across the Ohio River into Covington. The mixed-use buildings will be situated at the corners of Block A, with one facing Russell Street and the other facing Washington Street.
In her closing remarks, Funke highlighted the project’s future walkability, noting that the rebuilt streets will feature apartments, storefronts, and restaurants, which will bring back a neighborhood vibe to the former commercial area.
“This is a neighborhood, a neighborhood that will be vibrant, connected and welcoming, a neighborhood that offers walkable access to not only everything that Covington has to offer, but also to the city of Cincinnati,” she said. “This connectivity is what will make Covington Central Riverfront truly special.”